Hawkworld #1 (August 1989)

In the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC saw an opportunity to revamp and update many of its iconic heroes. One of those heroes was the high-flying mace-wielding alien avenger known as Hawkman. 

Hawkman, like many of DC's most iconic characters, has been around for a very long time. The original version of Hawkman debuted in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940). This Hawkman was Carter Hall, an archaeologist who was the reincarnation of an Ancient Egyptian prince named Khufu. This Hawkman used ancient weapons (most iconically a mace with a spiked head) and a winged harness made of a special material called Nth Metal (originally "ninth metal") to fly. He would go on to be a member of the Justice Society of America.

In the 1960s, Hawkman was one of the heroes DC revamped for the Silver Age. As such, a new Hawkman debuted in The Brave and the Bold #34 (February-March 1964). This Hawkman was Katar Hol, an alien policeman from the planet Thanagar. Like his Golden Age counterpart, Hol would end up a museum curator, using the alias "Carter Hall" to live amongst humans. And also like his Golden Age counterpart, he would be a member of a superhero team: the Justice League of America.

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, many characters would get revamped to take advantage of the newly-unified singular DC Universe. Hawkman was one of them. Hawkman's Post-Crisis revamp was a three-issue prestige format miniseries called Hawkworld. The miniseries sold well, leading to an ongoing series of the same name. The Hawkworld ongoing (1990-1993) would last 32 issues and 3 annuals. Timothy Truman, the writer/artist of the miniseries would contribute plotting to the first six issues of the ongoing alongside John Ostrander, who would go on to write the rest of the series solo. 

The comic I'm looking at here is the first issue of the 1989 miniseries. Did this do a worthy job of reviving the Winged Warrior for the Post-Crisis DCU, or did it crash and burn like a badly-built spaceship? Let's find out in Hawkworld #1!

The cover is a Tim Truman piece. It's a bit basic, depicting Hawkman in a snazzy uniform and holding a gun. It gives me the vibe of a pulp novel cover. 

"Flashzone"
Writer: Tim Truman
Penciler: Tim Truman
Inker: Enrique Alcatena
Colorist: Sam Parsons
Letterer: Tim Hawkins
Editors: Mike Gold, Katie Main, Brian Augustyn
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins on naturally...a bird. A bird being consumed by a lizard-like alien residing in a slum/poor village-like area of the planet Thanagar. He is sent scattering by a helicopter in the sky. 

"Yeah, helicopter!"

The occupants are military men, there to perform an operation. One of these soldiers is a young ensign named Katar Hol. Hol notices a large statue in the area, and realizes that the statue is of Kalmoran, an ancient Thanagarian hero. His commander reminds him that he's not an academic anymore. Hol has a small statue of the man himself around his neck. The helicopter arrives at its intended location. Another soldier, named Kragger, offers Katar a pill to help with some presumed nausea. But Katar's good. 

He and Katar fly out on their antigrav wings alongside their squad, and they find their target.

"I just wanted some cheese, man!"

Katar is a bit puzzled.

You see, humans live "topside". Hol was unaware there were any down here. Kragger basically tells him, "Oh there are plenty, but he got no wings like us, so he's a dead man." The target puts a gun to a child's head. The commander, Byth, orders a full assault on the building. Kragger and Hol make their way inside and find their man. The man tries to peacefully surrender, saying he just wants to see Byth. Kragger just blasts him, thankfully missing the child. Kragger takes some children out of the building, while Hol looks around. He notices a blank poster on the wall, and it gets him suspicious.

Hol tears it away, revealing a hidden arms cache. Byth compliments Hol on the find. Hol asks who the man was, as he seemed to know Byth. Byth tells him that he's just some psycho, and he's known to a lot of these people down here...because he killed many of their friends. Welcome to Thanagar's police force, Katar Hol. Welcome to the Wingmen.

Byth points out that Hol came from Thanagar's aristocratic class. He's the son of Paran Hol, a major figure on Thanagar. He comes from a world of no crime and suffering. Living in peace and plenty. But there's a price for that: The Downside. And Hol does not belong here. Katar leaves on a craft, clearly haunted by what he saw. 

The Wingman heads home, his domicile filled with artifacts and books. He finds some nice clothes hanging. 

Threads by Karlus Torn of Polara.

They were pressed for him as Paran wants him to attend a party. Katar ends up taking a pill Kragger offered him to get him through it. At the party, Paran introduces Katar to some other people: Commissioner Andar Pul, Administrator Thal Porvis...and his daughter Shayera.

Thal offers the Hols some Polaran wine. Katar asks if Thanagarians make their own wine anymore. The group engages in some small talk about Katar's potential future in the Wingmen. Shayera asks Katar if he's a collector, and Paran brags about his son's home being a practical museum of Thanagar's past. Shayera remarks that she is a collector as well and asks to dance. Katar finds himself dancing with her. She asks if Katar resents offworlders, but it's...not that simple.

Katar points out to her that everything around them is made by offworlders. The music, the wine, the goblets they're drank in, the clothes they wear. None of it Thanagarian. Paran Hol created the wings the Thanagarians use, the last innovation they can call their own. While they dance, the two accidentally bump into an alien waiter, causing him to spill the contents of his tray. 

"YOU HAVE TO PUT WET FLOOR SIGNS ON FRESHLY MOPPED FLOORS!"

Shayera's dress gets stained, and she is infuriated. The redhead attacks the waiter, screaming that her dress is basically worth more than him. The manager assures Shayera the waiter will be punished for this, despite it not being his fault. As she returns to her table, Andar and Polvis grumble about the alien species the waiter is from. Paran is more sympathetic to the waiter's plight, though. 

The next day, Katar goes on patrol with Kragger. The Wingmen have discovered that someone has been passing down weapons to the people in the Downside, and they're looking into who is doing so. The two find a potential lead. 

Meet Kutch'm "Kutchie" Ht'tar. Katar wants to ask him a few questions, but Kutchie is in no mood to do so.

Kragger takes the phrase "shoot in the foot" literally with the green alien. he then starts trying to beat some answers out of the alien...only for the two Wingmen to get ambushed. The two Wingmen fight back, only for Kragger to end up shot and killed. Katar takes his body away, much to the delight of the weapon supplier.

Yeah, Byth himself is the supplier. We then switch scenes to an island where Carter, Shayera, and Porvis are doing a bit of hunting. Provis provides a rifle to Carter, but he's got one of his own. An Impirium model Thanagarian-made rifle. Porvis flies off, leaving Shay and Carter to bond a bit. The two find a statue of Kalmoran on the island. Shayera's never seen it before. Carter explains the island they were standing on was where Kalmoran died. 

Back then, Thanagar was part of an empire as well, but not as the head...as one of the member planets. He was a slave of the Polarans. He killed his master, raised an army, and razed the Polaran homeworld. He had no interest in ruling the planet, he just wanted freedom. He came back to Thanagar and built a wonderous city. An elderly Kalmoran came to the island Katar and Shayera are on now. Joined by his beloved queen, he laid in her arms, looked back on all he had achieved, and then died. 

Shayera snidely calls it romantic, and then offers him a pill. He turns it down. The two find some ape-like beings on the island. Katar notes that they're foraging. He's fascinated by it, as it's something he's never seen before. Shayera shoots at them. She wounds one of the beings, and Katar goes to finish it off. He tracks the wounded creature to a cave. he finds the creature's mate and child...as well as wall drawing implying to be made by the creatures.

The story ends with a horrified Katar leaves the cave, and he leaves his gun and the little necklace of Kalmoran he wears on the statue.

I really like this comic. I think it's a fantastic, modernized take on the origins of the Silver Age-era alien Hawkman. I liked that the comic touched on themes of class inequality, and also touched on the irony of Thanagar, once an enslaved planet, now enslaving other worlds itself. The post-Crisis Katar Hol is shown to be a child of privilege, an avid student of history, fond of studying the past of Thanagar. One thing I did notice was characters like Kragger and Shayera casually using and offering various drugs to Katar, as if the Thanagarians' lives are so empty that they need drugs just to actually feel anything. It's...somewhat sad.

Truman also did the art for the comic. It's really nice, with a very moody vibe. The details in it kind of remind me of Murphy Anderson. I don't really talk about colorists often, but the colors also help contribute to the moody vibe of the art. 

Hawkworld would unintentionally end up causing some problems with Hawkman's history. You see, in the late 80s, a lot of characters were being given revamped origins. John Byrne's The Man of Steel, Miller and Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One, Jones, Giffen, and Priest's Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, etc. Hawkworld was intended to be set in the past, like those miniseries. However, DC decided to use the mini to reboot the Hawkman mythos, much like they did with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. Problem was, by the time this miniseries came out, Hawkman had already spent time briefly in the JLI. This reboot would render not just all of Hawkman's Silver/Bronze Age history non-canon, but his Golden Age history non-canon as well. 

Future creators tried to fix it, but it got so bad that for a time, the character was considered "radioactive" by DC editorial. That meant creators were not allowed to use the character in anything. This is what led to the introduction of the angel Zauriel in Grant Morrison's JLA run. They had originally intended him to be Hawkman. Hawkman would properly return in Geoff Johns's JSA book.

In my opinion, the Hawkworld miniseries is a hidden gem of 80s DC. If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2014 trade paperback Hawkworld. Thanks for reading this blog entry!